Great St. Martin Church stands in the Old Town of Cologne. Its foundations were laid around 960 on the remains of a Roman chapel, and the founding is attributed to Archbishop Bruno the Great. In 989 it became a Benedictine monastery for Irish monks. A fire in 1150 destroyed much of the abbey, and the present buildings went up between 1150 and 1250. The church was consecrated in 1172.
The church is Romanesque. It has a triconch eastern end, with three apses around the crossing, like St. Maria im Kapitol, and a crossing tower that rises 246 feet (75 meters). The two missing towers were completed in 1875.
RAF bombing burned the tower and nave in 1942, and more damage followed in 1945. Restoration began in 1948, and the interior was finished in 1985. It is now a Catholic parish church.
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